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All right, take your Bibles tonight, turn to the book of Romans tonight, the 13th chapter tonight of the book of Romans. Good to see Brother Jared and his wife Besson with us tonight. I hope they didn't come last Sunday night. We wouldn't hear. But that would have been your lucky night. All right, Romans chapter 13 tonight. I want to look at four verses tonight. I don't know how this message is going to go. I thought I had a pretty good message this morning. You shouldn't expect more than one a Sunday, amen? But I want to look at this tonight. The Lord has laid on my heart here, Romans 14th chapter. And the Bible said, And that knowing the time, that now it is high time to wake out of sleep, for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk honestly as in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness. See some folks doing that nowadays. Not in chamberlain, wantonness, not in strife and envy. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof. Thank you and be seated. Father, we ask tonight you'd add your blessings to the reading of the Word of God tonight and we can boldly say the Lord is our helper and so we trust in Thee to do that tonight and get the message out into the hearts that you want out tonight. Bless those who are listening by the way of the Internet Lord and other means tonight and every way that we can get the Word of God out is a precious way and a blessing and we pray the Lord will use it in Christ's name, Amen and Amen. The Apostle Paul writes here in Romans 13 and 11, ìAnd knowing the time, and knowing the time.î But we think about over there when Matthew wrote over in Matthew 16, I think it is that Matthew wrote over there, and he said, A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after sign, and there shall no sign be given it but the sign of Jonah. That's verse 4. But in verse 3 he said, O ye hypocrites, you can discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the sign of the times. Paul said, And knowing the time, Jesus said there in Matthew 16 and 3, He said, You can't discern the time. And Paul said over in Corinthians, I Corinthians 7, 29, Paul said the time is short. So in those three thoughts there, the Bible divides time up into three different things. But in our text tonight, in the reading of our text tonight, verses 10 down through verse 14 tonight, I find, Paul said, knowing the time, but I find three times mentioned there in verses 11 down through verse number fourteen that I want to look at tonight. Paul said here first of all knowing the time. Now he said he is talking about knowing the time and then he said the night is far spent. The night is far spent. In other words he is talking about past time, the time that is already past. He said the night is far spent. You know tonight We all can look back and we can realize tonight that there is a pastime tonight. It's already spent. It's already gone. We've already lived it. We can't relive it. The Apostle Paul said forgetting those things which are behind. Some people live the past times. They can't never get on their feet in the present time because they can't forgive their self for the past time. They are always struggling on something that happened back there in the past that you can't do nothing about. Paul said forget that. Now I don't think Paul meant forgetting everything in your past. I think there are some things that it's good for us to remember in our past. The Bible said in Philippians 4 and 7, it talks about whatsoever things are good, whatsoever things are lovely, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, he said think on these things. Some things in the past you can think about that's a blessing. You can think about past family time, past Thanksgiving, past Christmas time with your family. past blessings, past services that God has given, the Holy Ghost move, past revivals. I don't think Paul meant to forget those things, but there is things in our past that we'll just forget about, because the only thing it is, the devil just use it, try to keep you depressed and pull down all the time, so Paul said forget that and press on. But when I think about this thing here of knowing the past, he said the night is far spent. The Bible said in the book of Hebrews chapter 1, the Bible said God, you know the book of Hebrews starts out just like Genesis does. The first word is God. And he said God who at sun-dried times and in divers manners passed spake in time past, there it is, unto the fathers by the prophets, but he hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son. When we think about the past time as it relates to God, we're told here in Hebrews how that God spake in the past. God don't speak to us today the way God spake in the past. He still speaks to us through the prophets, but not personally, it's not them personally, it's in the Word of God, Isaiah, Jeremiah, those prophets that are in the Bible. But he said in time past God spake to them in divers ways, different ways God spake to them in the past. A lot of times we make a mistake by trying to make God today just like He was back there in the past. You say, well, the Bible said He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is. But He don't deal in all the same ways. He deals in different ways. And just like He spoke to them, you say, why did He speak to them? It looked like He spoke to them with an audible voice sometimes. It looked like God just spoke out to them with an audible voice. God has never spoke to me with an audible voice. I have had God to speak to me, impress upon my spirit so strong that it almost seemed audible, it almost seemed audible, but it wasn't just God speaking out of heaven like He did to those old prophets of old. You say, why did He speak to them that way? They didn't have what you are holding in your lap. They didn't have a completed Bible, they didn't have a completed revelation of the Word of God. Everything that God wants to say to you and me is in that book. When God finished that book, He said all that He wanted to say to us, it's all there in the Bible. The Bible said that in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son. Well, His Son has never spoken to me audibly. audibly. His Son has never spoken to me audibly, but He has spoken to me through the Word of God. He has spoken to me through the impression upon my spirit as I spoke about before. And so God in the past, God spoke different in the past than He does now. In the past God spoke audibly. Now God speaks to us through His Son. Well, who is His Son? His Son is the Word. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. So when He speaks to us through His Son, He speaks to us through the Word of God. Amen. Some people say, God never speaks to me. Open his mouth, open the Bible, and God will have something to say to you. So we see that God in the past, in the time past, that God spoke different than He does now, than He does now. We see that God in the past seen things different than He does now. You say, where's that at? Acts 17, the Bible said, And in the time of ignorance God winked at. It said there was a time that God realized man was ignorant of the ways of God and the Word of God. Why was they ignorant of it? They didn't have it. The Bible wasn't completed. They didn't have the Word of God. And so God saw things in a different light. The Bible said, and the time of ignorance God weaked at. But now He commands all men to repent. God don't weak at it no more. You say why? Because we all have access to the Word of God. We have a Bible. Amen? And so the Bible says that God dealt different then. You say, give me an example. I'd be glad to. Luke 23, Jesus is hanging on the cross and in verse 34, Jesus prays and He says, Father, forgive them, they know not what they do. He said, they don't know what they're doing. Father, forgive them. But listen to what He says in Romans 1. because that when they knew God, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God. He's not saying, Father, forgive them, they don't know what to do, because they know exactly what they're doing. You see, people that think God's going to wink at their sin nowadays has got the wrong kind of thinking. because God's not going to weaken anybody's sin today because He's commanded all men everywhere to repent. Amen. And so we look at that. On the cross, Father forgive them, they know not what to do. And Romans 1, that when they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God. You know what's going to be hard on some people at the judgment? It's going to be hard on some people at the judgment because they had opportunity and they didn't use it. Amen. Because they knew and they didn't do it. You see, it's one thing if you don't know. But in our kind of a day, ignorance of the law was no excuse because we have the Word of God. Amen. So you're not going to get to heaven one day and say, I didn't know that. They didn't teach that down at my church. My preacher never did preach on that. And the Lord's going to say, why didn't you read it in the Bible? Why didn't you read it in that book? Why didn't you ask me or call on me and I would have showed you? Amen? So we're talking about in the time past, the night that is far spent, God spake different, God saw different. Why did God do these things? God did that to show us. Even though it happened in the past, God did it to show us in the present. You say, what do you mean? Well, the Bible says in I Corinthians 10, let's just read it. He's talking about Israel in the wilderness in verses 1 down through verse 11. But in verse 11 he said, Now all these things happened unto them, for end samples or examples, and they are written for our admonishment, upon whom the ends of the world are come." In other words, God said, What I let happen to them back there, I did it to show you up here. What happened in the past back there, God let happen to show us up here. You say, What do you mean? Well, let me give you some examples. What happened to Abel back there in the past? What happened to Abel back there? What happened to Abel? Well, Abel and his brother went to worship the Lord. And Abel took a lamb, Abel brought blood, and Cain brought of the fruit of the ground. But the Bible said that God had respect unto Abel's offering. What does that say to me up here? That tells me I need the blood. That tells me I need the blood of a lamb, amen? I need the blood of the lamb of God. That happened back there so that I'd know that up here. Let's take Enoch for the Bible. What did the Bible say about Enoch? Well, the Bible said Enoch walked with God and he was not, for God took him. Amen. Well, what happened to Enoch back there? He's walking with God and one day the Bible said Enoch's just gone. Somebody said, well, that just means he died. No, the Bible said that he didn't see death. The Bible said that it was translated that he would not see death. Well, what happened back there to Enoch, it says to me over here that those that are saved today, that one day that God's going to translate us and we're going to leave this world and we're going to be with God. Amen. We're not going to see death. What happened back there was for our admonishment. You take Noah there. What happened to Noah back there? God spoke to Noah. God said, Noah, build an ark and get in it. And Noah built that ark and him and his family got in it. That's what happened to him back there. What's that say to me up here? That says to me up here that I better get in the ark, amen? And that ark is the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what that ark represents. and we could go into the three stories, Father, Son, Holy Ghost. We could go into the one door in the side. Jesus said, I am the door, only one door into heaven, and that ark was a type of Christ. We can take a lot. We can take a lot. You take him. I don't want him. Amen. We look at a lot, and the Bible says of a lot, that he was a righteous man, but he vexed his righteous soul with a filthy conversation of the wicked, and we know that lot, when God told him to get ready to get out, that lot lingered. What does that say to me up there? That says to me, don't pitch a tent toward Sodom. Don't be living toward the world. Amen. That says when God says get out, get out. That's what it says to me. We can look at Joseph there. What happened to Joseph? Joseph is the greatest type of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. Arthur Pink says that he's like Christ in a hundred and fifty ways, at least, that he is like Christ. You say, what happened to Joseph? Everything happened to Joseph. He got thrown in a pit. He got to the palace. He got into prison. Everything happened to Joseph. But you know what? Everything that happened to him, the Bible said, but the Lord is with him. And what does that say to us up here? That says that we don't know what's going to happen to us if we're going to wind up in the pit or the palace or prison, but we know that God will be with us. Amen. Look at Job there. You say, what happened to Job? More than ever happened to anybody else. Job lost all his family. Job lost 10 kids in one day. His dear wife who had lost 10 kids and no doubt was eaten up with grief and bereavement, his own wife, the devil used her to turn against him. But Job was patient even though he had some up, up, up hills and down hills. He had some times there. But the Bible said that in the last, we said remember the patience of Job. What's that say to us over here? We need to have patience when we don't understand what's going on in times like we're in right now. Amen. and remember that God will be with us. Remember them Hebrew boys, you remember what happened to them? They were asked to bow down, they were asked to bow down, they were asked to dance whenever the music started, and they wouldn't bend, they wouldn't bow, they wouldn't break as it's been preached, and they got thrown in the fire, and the old king looked in and he said, hello, he said, I see four men in there, and one of them looks like a son of God. Maze Jackson said he was preaching on that one night and a little boy came up to him and said, Brother Maze, I want to ask you a question. He said he got Shadrach out, he got Meshach out, and he got Abednego out. He said, What happened to that fourth man? And Brother Maze said he stood there a minute and God gave him the answer. He said he stayed in the fire because I'm expecting to be in there and I want to be in there when I get in there. Amen? I'm glad we can count on the Lord to be with us in the fire. You take Daniel there. They said, Daniel, don't pray no more. Daniel, don't pray no more. They got it in writing, got it signed. If you pray, we're going to jail you. We're going to throw you into the lions if you pray. That happened to Daniel back there. What did Daniel do? Daniel opened up his windows like he always did and he wouldn't open them up so they could see him, but that was just his habit. He wasn't going to change his habit just because of a bunch of heathen. And he opened up the window and Daniel prayed. He got thrown in the lion's den. But guess who didn't sleep that night? It wasn't Daniel, the old king couldn't sleep all night. He's pacing the floor, walking the floor. And at daybreak he says, oh Daniel, is your God able to deliver you? And Daniel said, I'm fine, don't worry about me, amen. What's that say? That's saying that you and I, that we need to keep on praying, amen. Even when the king and the government and the people say don't do this and don't do that, we ought to obey God rather than man, it'll come out to our favor in the end, amen. Now, you may get thrown into lion's den for a little while. You may get thrown into fire for a little while. We all may get some of that. But that's saying to you and me, in times past, the people that stayed with God, they come out alright in the end. Amen? That's what that's saying to you and me tonight. So, I see him there and he talks about the night is far spent. He's talking about the pastime. You ever think about the pastime? I was listening to Brother Griffiths. on the radio on the way to church tonight up there in Somerset. And he was preaching on The Times. And he was talking about, he was talking about, and it amazes me, a lot of times I'll preach something and I'll turn the radio on and the preachers I listen to on the radio, they'll be preaching it too. What's that mean? We all got the same sermon outline books. Amen? No. No, what that means is God moves men. God moves men at the same time in the same direction many times. God does that. But he was talking about when you could buy, you know, a Coke for a few cents and all that kind of stuff and got you thinking about the times past and those were what we call the good old days. But at the time they didn't seem all that good. but we wish it was like it again now. Amen. And so we see the time passed and not as far spent. But then I want you to see this here. He says here, he said the time that now is. He's not talking about the past time that's far spent. He's talking about the time that now is. It's time we're living in right now. November the 15th. 2020, the time that now is. Well, I'll say one thing about it, I ain't never seen a time like it. Amen? I'm sure there's been some like it during the pandemic in the 1918's and all that, but I wasn't there then, that was a time past. But in this present time, we're seeing things that we never have seen before. And Paul wrote in Romans 8 and verse 18, he said, For I reckon I believe Paul was from Kentucky. He said, For I reckon that the suffering of this present time, see that? The suffering of this present time, right now. He's talking about right then when he's living. The suffering he's doing, and boy he's doing some of it. When you read the life of Paul, I tell you when you read the life of Paul, you sit down and you wonder if he even saved. See what that man's went through. When I listen to some of these present Christians over in China and Russia and places like that, and I read their books and listen to their testimonies, it makes me wonder if I'm even saved sometimes. I thank my goodness what they've been through. And I've had a lot of affliction. I've had a lot of affliction. I can't get at the grocery store what I want because it's not on the shelf right now. It's a great tribulation. I've only got two vehicles. Great tribulation. I've only got three freezers crammed full of food. Great tribulation. Dr. Lakin told about a man that said he had to talk in one day and he said, I've got five freezers full of food. He said, I've got a smokehouse full of hams hanging in it. And he said, I've got a room that's got canned goods all the way around in it. But he said, Oh Lord, what am I going to do when that runs out? Some people are like that. They've got enough to last for ten years, but they're worried today. Amen. Well, Paul said, I reckon the suffering of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed. I asked the Lord one day, I said, Lord, what does that mean? And it impressed upon me, the Holy Spirit seemed to impress upon me and He said, well you folks are always saying when I get to heaven I'm going to ask God why He let this happen. I'm going to ask God why this took place. I'm going to ask God why this happened in my family. I want to ask God why this happened. And what that verse means is when you get to heaven and you get there you're going to say, hey Lord, wow. The Lord's going to say, What do you want? Oh, nothing, Lord. Just forget it. It's not worth mentioning. Amen. Paul said, The suffering of this present time right now are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed. Paul talked about suffering present. Suffering present. We all have some present suffering, don't we? Amen. Get up about 50. It starts in and it don't let up until you let out. I mean, it's interesting because you never know what's going to be hurting in the morning when you get up. It's never a dull moment. But that's present-day suffering. That's right now. That's for a little while. That's for a month or two. That's for a couple of months, maybe even if it's for 30 years. What's that compared with eternity? Amen? I mean, what's a little suffering down here compared with eternity? I remember when I got diabetes, I went down and told my mom. I said, Mom, they said I had diabetes, and she said, I hate that you got that. And I remember what I said to her, I didn't live up to it, but I said, well, I said for 55 years I've eaten everything I wanted to eat. So I said, I guess now I'll eat what I need to eat. I didn't live up to that. I went to the doctor the other day. He wanted to change my medicine. He said, I want you to take this medicine here. And he said, I want you to know it's going to make you sick. He said, now if you eat like you're supposed to eat, you won't have no problem. But here's his exact words. He said, but if you don't eat right, it's going to tire you up. I said, Doc, it's going to tire me up. And I said, if you think I'm taking something to make me sick when I ain't sick, you better think again. Amen. But that's present suffering. Some of you got heart trouble. Some of you got arthritis. Some of you got mental problems. Some of you got different things you have to deal with, but that's only for a short time, amen. That's only for a short time, and that's going to be over with. The present's suffering. So when you get to hurting real bad, just be, thank God you got Tylenol or Advil or Aleve that don't relieve or whatever you got. Just thank God you got it. and take it and get by with it the best way you can because you're only going to have to put up with it for a little while. A little while. Somebody says anything good about dying? Yeah, you don't hurt no more. You're saved. You don't hurt no more. Amen. So Paul talks about, it's right there in the text, he said for the suffering of this present time, right now, right now, I don't know what you're suffering with right now, You say, Brother Rick, ain't nothing bothering me right now, just hold on. Either you're young or you're dead. Paul said in I Corinthians 7, 26, he talks about the present distress, the present distress. You say, what's that? That's this distress we're in right now. Now you can't just go in where you want to go in. It's kind of aggravating that you got to put your mask on to go in somewhere, come out somewhere. It's kind of aggravating. You don't really like to do it. We can't just go anywhere. We can't go at any time like we used to because everything's closed up early or either it's closed up altogether. That's present distress. It's only going to be for a little while. It's present distress. that we can't do church like we used to do church. You say, why can't we? Because we all don't want COVID. That's why. Enough sense to not come in and hug each other and kiss each other and all that kind of stuff when you got a pandemic going on in the world. That's a present distress. It's distressing. You say, what do you do? You do the best you can do and keep on doing. That's what you do, amen. That's what we've been doing here for the last five or six months. We've been trying to keep on doing. Somebody said just do it like you always done it. You can't do it like you always done it. Times ain't like they always been. Times are different. So you got to do things different. That's a distress. But it won't last forever. Somebody said, you think we'll ever get back to regular church again? I have no idea. Somebody said, you think this is going to be over with pretty quick? No, not really I don't. I'd say another year anyway. And I don't know anything, I'm just telling you what I'd say. That's a present distress. I'll tell you one thing, if we ever do get back where we can have church again, where we can have church again like we used to have church in the time past, we'll have two or three good services before we get used to it and forget about it, amen? That's the way God's people are, you know. When we was closed down for about five weeks, and a lot of people couldn't wait to get back to church, and a lot of people was going to testify every service, or go to the altar every service, or never miss a service. That lasted about three weeks, most people. That's how that stuff goes. So why is that? Because we're low down, sorry human beings with a damning nature. God knows that. He knows that we're flesh, and I'm glad He does. It does us good to remind ourself every then we're flesh. None of us have attained yet. Paul wrote 14 books of the Bible. Paul had an out-of-body experience, and Paul said, I've yet not obtained. I doubt if you and I have. Amen. A lot of times it's just a present distress. But the good thing about that is it's only a present distress. It's going to be over one of these days. The Bible said that God is our refuge and strength, watch it, a present help in the time of trouble. I'm glad that God is a present help in the time of trouble that we are going in today. said, God's our refuge. What's that mean? We hide there. We run to God. We stay in God. We hide in God. He's our refuge, the Bible said. He's our present help. You say, what's that mean? You don't have to text Him. You don't have to call Him on the cell phone. You don't have to FaceTime Him. He's a present help. He's there right now. Amen. He's there right now. We need to reckon on that presence. You need to remember the Lord's with you. I like that verse, Joshua 1 and 8, it said, This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, thou shalt observe to do according to all that is written therein. Then shall it make thy way prosperous, and thou shalt have good success, he said. He said, Don't be distressed, don't be discouraged, for the Lord thy God is with thee. I quote that verse a lot. Going up the road Monday night, with my help of killing me and heading to preach on Monday night in Russell Springs. I said, Lord, I'm in Russell Springs tonight, but I'm glad you're with me tonight. Because he said, wheresoever I goeth, there you'll be with me. Amen. Tonight I'm here at Bethel Baptist Church. I'm glad the Lord's with me tonight. And he's with you tonight if you're saved. Aren't you glad there's a present help? Now you take folks that live by their self like Ms. Maydale and Sister Bolden lost their husbands. You think people that live by their self, I'd say that birth is a real blessing a lot of times. You get lonely. I was visiting Ms. Allen the other day and she kept saying over and over again, I'm just so lonely. I just get so lonely. Well, I can understand that, but I'm glad that there's a present help. I'm glad the Lord is there with you where you live at, and you can talk to the Lord, and you can tell your troubles to the Lord, and He's right there, a present help. You don't have to wait till Sunday morning, till 10 o'clock, till David unlocks the door, to find the Lord. I'm glad He's there wherever you are. Amen. He's a present help. He's a present help. The Bible talks about a present danger. You say, what is that? Hebrews 2, 3 says, it's right back there on the wall. How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? There's a present danger for people that ain't saved. Now I'd say most of the people in here, if not all the people in here, profess salvation. But if there's somebody here tonight not saved, that's not something you've got to worry about when you die. That's a present danger right now. Matter of fact, the Bible said in John, the wrath of God already abideth on them that don't believe, the Bible said. So that's a present danger. Well, if there's a present danger, I'm glad there's a present salvation. The Bible said now is the accepted time. Behold, today is the day of salvation. Now, that pins it down to right now, this moment, 12 minutes to 7, November the 15th. Now is the day of salvation. If there's a present danger, there's a present salvation. We're talking about the times past, the night is far spent. That's what happened back there. Paul said the time that now is. That's what's going right now on in our life. You say, I ain't too much worried about what happened back there. I'm worried about what's going on right here, right now, past. Can't do nothing about the past, but do something about the present. But notice then Paul says, he says, the night is far spent, but the day is at hand. Not only do we see a time past, what happened back there, not only do we see a time present, what's going on right now, but Paul said there is a time prophetic. You say, what's that? That's what's going to happen out there. That's something that ain't happened in the past, it's not happening right now in the present, but it's going to happen out there somewhere. That's that prophetic time. And Paul said, Knowing that now it is high time to wake out of our sleep, for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. That's got to be true. That's got to be true. I believed on the Lord in 1964. The Lord's coming has got to be closer than it was in 1964. Amen. Paul said that in A.D. 60 when he wrote that. It's got to be closer tonight than it was back then. He said our salvation is nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent. The day is at hand. What kind of day? The day of the Lord. The day of the Lord is coming. He said it's at hand. What's that mean? That means it's just right there. It's at hand's reach. It's just right there. I don't know when the Lord's coming, but I sure never did see a time that looked any more right for it than right now when we're living. Amen. All the things I've had preached to me and I preach myself now for the last 40 years, I've never seen so many things fulfilled in the last few months. Amen. And so, You see, Paul says in II Timothy 3 and 1, Paul said, This know also that perilous times shall come. When Paul said that, that was prophetic. To you and me tonight, that's present. Perilous times have come. That's like Timothy. When Paul wrote to Timothy and he said, Timothy, preach the Word. Be instant in season, out of season. reprove, rebuke, exhort, for the time will come. When Paul said that, that was prophetic. Tonight, that's here. That's present. That's where we're at tonight. The time will come when they won't endure sound doctrine. They'll heap to themselves teachers like Joel Osteen and all them teachers. They'll teach to them fables and things that ain't true, having itching ears. You say, what's that mean? They'll scratch what itches? What do people want to hear? People don't want to hear about hell. People don't want to hear about sin. People don't want to hear about God's judgment. People don't want to hear about the Tribulation and the Antichrist. They want to hear something like your best day now. Let me tell you something. You may be sitting here tonight and not have an ache, one, not a pain in your body. You don't take blood pressure pills. You don't take diabetic medicine. You don't take heart medicine. I mean you may be sitting here in perfect health. But this is not your best day. Your best day will never be now until then. When you get to heaven, get a glorified body. Get with Jesus. That will be your best day, not now, but then. that knowing also in the last days peerless times shall come. Prophetic times can become past and present times. You see, there are some prophetic times we read about in the Old Testament. They happened. They were prophetic when they were wrote, but now they have not been fulfilled and they are past. And there are some prophetic things in the Old Testament that are being fulfilled right now as we speak. They were prophetic back then, but they are present now. But there are some things that are prophetic that are still prophetic. You say, what do you mean? That is what Jesus meant. When He told those Pharisees and scribes, He said, you know all these little clichés, red skies at night, sailors delight. You know all these little old time sayings. You say you can look at the sky and tell what the weather is going to be. He said you hypocrite. He said you can't even discern the sign of the times. And he said there won't be any sign given other than the sign of Jonah. Jesus rose from the dead and they still didn't get it with 500 witnesses. Prophetic signs of the times. You know there's a lot of people going through what we're going through right now haven't got a clue it's got anything to do with the Bible. I mean they don't even realize it's just fulfilling of the Word of God. You said like what preacher? Like Matthew 24 talked about last days it'd be pestilence. Amen. Things like this last day. They don't even make a connection. They don't even understand about all this stuff they're doing right now, you know. What they're doing is they're setting up for the Antichrist. That's what they're doing. And most of the world, when the Antichrist comes, they're going to hug his neck and say, thank God he's here. He can bring peace. He can solve all our problems. You see, they don't even discern the time. Jesus gave us a Bible, most of us have heard it preached all our life, and now it's happening, a lot of it. Signs of the times. You see, the prophetic signs of the times are going on right now. It hadn't happened yet, but it's leading up to it. It's leading up to it. Take for instance, the prophetic significance of Noah and Mr. Lot. The Bible said in Luke, it says this in Matthew and Mark, I think, but in Luke it says a little different. In Luke 17, it's all talking about the coming of the Lord, verse 27, He said, They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. One thing kind of throws me off a little bit. The Bible said that they married and was given in marriage. They don't marry no more, they just live together. You're welcome. Thank you. Used to it was younger people, now it's older people. They say, well, we just live together because we don't want to lose our check. You say, well, if we get married, we can't make it. I wouldn't have married a bum like that anyway. Amen. did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, also as it was in the days of Lot. Oh, now we are going to throw Lot in there. They did eat, they drank, underline it, they bought, they sold. There's never been a time, mark it down, that there's been more buying and selling than in the day right now when you and I live. People click them phones every day. They're buying, they're selling. Amazon can't keep up with it. And the Bible said in the last days they would be buying and selling in excess like never before. but they don't get it. They planted and they built the prophetic signs of the times, the prophetic significance of Noah and Lot's day. That's prophetic, but it's become present. It's happening right now while we live. But it said, as it was in the days of Noah, and it said the flood came And in Matthew it says, And they knew not. I preached a sermon years ago called, Why Didn't They Know? No one's out there telling them every day. Preaching to them. They had all the signs all around them. Why didn't they know? I'll tell you why they didn't know. The same reason they don't know today. They didn't care. They didn't care. They didn't want to hear it. They didn't want some old Bible-thumping preacher telling them what was going to happen. They didn't want somebody telling them about a flood that they never had even seen a rain just like people today never have seen a rapture. They don't want somebody telling them about something they ain't never seen. But you don't have to say it for it to be happening to be real. You see, I preached this morning on John 14 on Jesus' cure for heart trouble. And in that verse 3 of that, where I preached from this morning, the Bible said Jesus said, If I go away, I will come again. That hadn't happened yet. That's prophetic. But he said, I'm coming again. In Acts 1 and 11, he left. Two men stood by him in white apparel. He said, You men of Galilee, why stand ye up here gazing? This same Jesus you see go away. will come again. It hasn't come yet. That's prophetic. That's out there. That's going to happen. Revelation 1 and 7, it's the revelation, not the rapture, but Revelation 1 and 7, the Bible said, Behold, every eye shall see Him. Amen. That hasn't happened yet. It's going to happen. Amen. Every eye is going to see Him. Philippians said in Philippians 2 verse 5, So let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God thought it not robbery be equal to God. but he said he humbled himself, made himself of no reputation, took upon himself the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of a man, being found in the fashion of a man. He humbled himself, became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also has highly exalted him, giving him a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus everything in heaven, everything in earth, everything under the earth, and every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father." That hadn't happened yet! That's prophetic, but it's going to happen. I want to somehow or another get me a bird's eye view when that old devil gets down. He has to say, Jesus Christ is Lord! To the glory of God the Father and the Lord's sake, throw him in the pit. He's going to throw him in the pit. I like my devil barbecued and well done. Amen. He's burnt me up and tormented me and aggravated me all this time. I want him to get some of it. He's going to get a lot more of it than I get. But Paul said, Paul said, knowing the time. He talked about the past time, the night is far spent. He talked about the present time. He talked about the prophetic time. Amen. Father, I come to you tonight, thank you for showing me how the Word of God
Knowing The Times
Sermon ID | 111920115215207 |
Duration | 46:16 |
Date | |
Category | Sunday - PM |
Bible Text | Romans 13:11-14 |
Language | English |
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